Much as predicted, the stay on same-sex marriages requested by the State Attorney General's office has been granted. Tolja you'd better write a check for your side if you had one, though it appears the wallets and pocketbooks of taxpayers have been drafted on the don't-let-them-wed side.
A couple of observation: according to the AG's office (and vigorously debated by the newly-wed and their supporters), this leaves recognition of the initial batch of new spouses (and out-of-state same-sex marriages) in limbo, including, one assumes, the "poster girl" case that prompted the curent ruling:
"Last month, the state of Indiana asked Judge Young to lift his order requiring Indiana to recognize the out-of-state marriage of Amy Sandler and Niki Quasney, who is terminally ill.
"The couple wants their Massachusetts marriage recognized on Quasney's death certificate. She has stage 4 ovarian cancer."
Heart-rending stories are not a sound basis for laws but you'd have to have a heart of stone to read that and feel nothing.
Meanwhile out in the rough and tumble world of real politics, petitions have been signed and delivered in their tens of thousands, signs have been waved, various experts and human-interest subject have been interviewed and nobody's fighting in the streets. That's actually remarkable, and yet the lack of violence is so common in even the most deeply-divisive issues that it passes without notice. Consider that even the most yammerheaded types on each side of this issue, decrying the uncivilized immorality and awfulness of their opponents, aren't heading out with baseball bats, brick bats or Molotov cocktails, they're writing letters, making phone calls, holding petition drives, lobbying, praying -- and the most dangerous thing any of 'em have picked up are little candles for a vigil. --Call it what you like; I call it amazing.
The violence only begins when people feel like there is no other way. Desperate people with little to lose become dangerous
ReplyDeleteI'm having a hard time understanding why I should be offended at what people do in the privacy of their dwellings.
ReplyDeleteShould they perform such acts in the public domain, perhaps with the intent to shock me into submission, I'm all in favor of public execution, and in an extremely painful form.
In other words, "Leave me the *%@# alone and I will gladly return the favor." Violate that principle and I cannot predict what will happen, but neither of us will enjoy it.
I wholeheartedly second this
DeleteOf course, booth sides will point out, Elemer, that they are *married* everywhere, not just in the privacy of their home; this is simultaneously a goal of the pro-same-sex-marriage side and an objection for the pro-traditional-marriage side.
ReplyDeleteMe, I'm fresh outta sides and as I have never been formally wed to anyone, it could be argued that I don't have much of a dog in this fight, either.
I don't have a dog in this fight, being neither gay nor married. Like Elmer, I am firmly in the camp of "do unto others", especially leaving them alone to do whatever floats their boat.
ReplyDeleteI am, however, firmly on the "for" side. Chiefly on the grounds of "doesn't hurt me so why should I care" and "none of my business", but also because, while it may not seem like a big deal, legally speaking, marriage comes with insurance and pension rights and next-of-kin consultation at hospitals with doctors and similar such.